No rain this morning, but damp, delaying our departure from the campground. We wanted to pack everything dry for our three days in Rome. Nothing spectacular about the 50 km ride to Grosseto. Much of the ride followed the same road, clearly built by Romans with a laser-straight line.
Grosseto remains a walled city. We spent a while wandering about the inner city before heading to the train station.
We had an hour to wait for the train, arriving on Platform 1, adjacent to the Ticket Office, so no mad scramble up and down flights of stairs. Then the train was delayed, changing to Platform 2 at the last minute. Mad scramble ensued. Rob misunderstood something I said, so instead of loading his bicycle on the last car of the train (with the Bicycle symbol for bicycle storage), he loaded mid-train because someone had taken a bicycle off there. I went ahead and loaded my bicycle in the last car, and headed back to Rob (inside the train, otherwise that could go very poorly). A conductor came by and told Rob he’d need to move his bicycle at the next stop, but no further drama.
A few hours later, we found ourselves in Rome. The instructions to Mosaic Hostel followed one-way streets, so we just walked (pushing the bicycles). The guy at reception also cycle tours, and provided multiple tips about my upcoming trek to Athens. He has a 15,000 km tor planned for next year.
He also regretted to inform me that their bicycle storage was on the roof. On the 6th floor (and here floors start at 0). They also have the world’s smallest elevator, too small for a bicycle. He keeps his bicycle on the roof as well, and that it’s just part of the training. Rob was not amused. I think three floors was my former record, but at least I could move the gear up in the elevator.
Before Rob and I left to wander the city for a while, I took a shower to clear off the day’s grime and sunscreen. In, apparently, the world’s smallest shower. Every time I moved I banged into the handle, changing the water temperature from scalding to freezing.
Rome even by night is impressive. We walked through the core historic section of Rome, and there was always another massive structure leading us deeper into history. And deeper into the city. By the time wed wandered our way back to the hostel we’d effectively circumnavigated inner Rome.
Rob has confirmed someone to box up his bicycle on Monday, and they recommended he simply take a taxi from there to the airport. So in theory Rob is all set.
Tomorrow we’ll play pedestrian tourist in Rome.